Stacked pattern wheels for knitting machines



MISHCON 3,403,535 STACKED PATTERN WHEELS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Oct. 1, 1968 Filed April 25, 1966 a 0 M w c u a no. a g n H m INVENTOR. Lester BY fla l/1% Mishcon AT TORNE Y mg I United States Patent "ice 3,403,535 STACKED PATTERN WHEELS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Lester Mishcon, Miami Beach, Fla., assignor to The Singer Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Apr. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 545,088 3 Claims. (Cl. 66-40) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A support is disclosed for a plurality of pattern wheels in stacked relation on a single spindle adjacent to a knitting station of a circular knitting machine. The pattern wheels are each journaled on separate cylindrical hearing seats each having an inclined spindle accommodating bore. With this arrangement, each of the plurality of pattern wheels is inclined to the axis of the needle cylinder and yet, all pattern wheels mesh with the needles at the same point along the path of needle travel about the needle cylinder.

This invention relates to patterning mechanisms for knitting machines and more particularly to a novel and improved pattern Wheel arrangement for needle selection in a knitting machine.

It is an object of this invention to provide a needle selecting pattern wheel arrangement for knitting machines whereby the size of the pattern area producible on the knitting machine may be markedly increased as compared with conventional pattern wheel arrangements.

This invention has application to that type of knitting machine which utilizes varied needles, and more particularly, that type in which the needle dimension between the yarn engaging hook and the needle actuating butt is varied. With this type of varied needle, the needle butts at various levels travel in separate tracks or needle cam" raceways. The present invention uses conventional pattern wheels meshing directly with the needle butts and journaled on axes inclined relatively to the path of endwise reciprocation of the knitting needles so as to elevate the needles selectively in accordance with the jacks which are carried in the pattern wheels.

The required inclination of the pattern wheels presents a problem when a stack of such pattern wheels is needed, as is the case where separate needle butt tracks or raceways are used, each raceway requiring an individual pattern wheel at each yarn feeding station. If the pattern wheels are jo'urnaled on a common axis inclined relatively to the needles, they will mesh with the needles each at a different point along the path of needle travel. In a circular knitting machine such spacing of the points of pattern wheel engagement peripherally about the machine at each feed is disadvantageous first in that it reduces the total number of feeds which can be accommodated about the machine and thus curtails rather than increases the size of the pattern area, and second in that it increases the difiiculty of combining information of more than one of the pattern wheels at any one yarn feeding station.

If the stacked pattern wheels are journaled each on a separate spindle so that the pattern wheels may be staggered in order to mesh with the needles each wheel at the same point along the path of needle travel, considerable vertical space must be provided for the separate spindles and the supports therefor. This additional space requirement results in the necessity for a correspondingly higher needle cylinder and longer needles which not only increases the difiiculty and cost of manufacture of the machine, but increases the inertial and frictional forces influencing needle motion, therefore curtailing the productive capacity of the machine.

3,403,535 Patented Oct. 1, 1968 The objects of this invention are attained and the above drawbacks obviated by a novel and improved stacked pattern wheel arrangement in which a common supporting spindle is provided for all of the pattern wheels at each feed of the machine with the inclined bearing sleeves interposed one between each pattern wheel and the common spindle so as to provide the requisite pattern wheel inclination and the proper olfset relationship between pattern wheels such that the wheels will each mesh with the needles at the same point along the path of needle travel.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross sectional view of a portion of a knitting machine having the stacked pattern Wheel arrangement of this invention applied thereto,

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken along the axis of the pattern wheel supporting spindle substantially along line 2.2 of FIG. 1, illustrating the three pattern wheels assembled thereon, and the knitting needles for cooperation with the three pattern Wheels,

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the section block and a fragment of the circular knitting machine viewed from the side facing the knitting machine needle cylinder and illustrating the arrangement when only a single pattern wheel is used, and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an inclined bearing sleeve for the pattern wheels.

FIG. 1 illustrates the general arrangement of parts of a sinker top circular knitting machine including a frame housing ring 11 which may be supported from the floor on a plurality of legs (not shown). Journaled in the housing ring is a gear ring 12 formed with depending gear teeth 13 and with a radially inwardly extending flange 14 to which a needle cylinder 15 is secured as by screws 16. The gear ring is constrained rotatably in the housing ring by a retaining ring 17 which is secured to the housing ring. The gear ring is turned by a pinion 18 meshing with the gear teeth 13 and is driven, for instance, by an electric motor (not shown).

The outer wall of the needle cylinder 15 is formed with evenly spaced vertical slots 19 each slidably accommodating a latch needle 20. Each of the latch needles 19 is provided at the top with a pivoted latch blade 21 and is surmounted by a yarn engaging hook 22 and the needles are all formed with a lower butt 23 at a uniform distance from the hook. Each needle is also formed with a second butt located intermediate the lower butt 23 and the hook at any one of a plurality of levels depending upon the number and arrangement of different pattern wheels which may be employed. FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings illustrate an arrangement of three pattern wheels and alongside FIG. 2 three diiferent needles 19 are illustrated each with a lower butt 23 at a common level beneath the hook but with intermediate butts 24, 24 and 24" at three diiferent levels corresponding to the arrangement of the pattern wheels.

At the top of the needle cylinder, the needles 20 c0- operate with radially movable sinkers 25 arranged between adjacent needles in transverse slots 26 provided in the top of the needle cylinder. A sinker carrier ring 27 supported from the housing ring 11 accommodates an annular gib ring 28 which journals a sinker rest ring 29 in which the sinkers are slidably supported. The sinker rest ring meshes with the needle slots 19 in the cylinder and together with the sinkers 25 rotates with the cylinder. The sinkers are reciprocated radially under the influence of sinker cams 30 carried by the sinker carrier ring 27.

Secured on the retaining ring 17 as by bolts 40 are section blocks 41, one being provided at each feed about the circular knitting machine. Each section block is formed with an inclined upper surface 42 with the inclination preferably corresponding to that at which the pattern wheels must occupy in order properly to elevate the needles. A through slot 43 is formed in the setion block extending vertically, i.e., parallel to the needle slots 19 in the cylinder and elongate radially of the cylinder. The under surface 44 of the section block is formed with a shallow slot 45 also extending radially of the cylinder. A pattern wheel shaft 46 is arranged in the vertical slot 43 and the shaft is formed with a rectangular head 47 which seats in the shallow slot 45 and locks the shaft against turning.

Indicated generally at 50 is a pattern wheel which except as to the manner of mounting upon the shaft 46 is conventional. The pattern Wheel includes a body portion 51 formed at the periphery with evenly spaced radial slots 52 which correspond in spacing to that of the needle slots 19 in the cylinder and are inclined on the wheel corresponding to the inclination of the upper surface 42 of the section block. The pattern Wheel slots 52 are adapted to be filled selectively with either low jacks 53 or high jacks 54 both of which jacks have similarly shaped tail portions 55 accommodated in an annular groove 56 in the body portion 51 of the pattern wheel and locked in place by a cover plate 57 secured to the body portion by screws 58. It will be understood that a high jack 54 when it engages a needle butt 24, 24', or 24 will raise that needle to a latch cleared or knit position; a low jack will raise a needle to an intermediate non-latch cleared or tuck position, and a vacant pattern wheel slot will pass a needle in a substantially unelevated or welt position.

Although not illustrated in the drawings, it is conventional and will be understood by those skilled in the art that a circular knitting machine also includes a yarn carrier for delivering one or more yarns to the hooks of those needles which are elevated at each section block. The section blocks thus define knitting stations about the machine and the arrangement of operative parts of the section block permitting optimum utilization of space therefore influences the number of knitting stations which can be placed about a circular knitting machine and hence influences the productivity of the machine.

The pattern wheels 50 are not journaled directly upon the shaft 46 but instead are each journaled on an outer cylindrical bearing surface 60 of a bearing sleeve 61. To accommodate the sleeve bearing surface 60, the pattern wheel body portion 51 and cover plate 57 are formed with an axial bore 62 and at the underside of the body portion 51 a counter bore 63 which accommodates an annular flange 64 on the bearing sleeve 61. The flange 64 from the bearing surface 60 to the underside 65 of the sleeve is preferably made slightly thicker than the depth of the counterbore to provide clearance for the underside of the pattern wheel. Similarly, the bearing surface 60 of the sleeve from the flange 64 to the top surface 66 of the sleeve is made longer than the bore 62 in the pattern wheel and cover plate 57.

The sleeve 61 is formed with an inclined shaft accommodating bore 67 with the inclination relatively to the axis of the bearing surface 60 being equal to the inclination of the upper surface 42 of the section block relatively to the needles in the needle cylinder. The location of the inclined bore 65 in the sleeve 61 is relatively unimportant, however, it is essential that the bore 67 be located in similar location in each sleeve to be assembled on any particular shaft 46.

A keyway slot 68 is formed in the bore 67 of each sleeve and a cooperating keyway slot 69 is formed along the shaft 46. When the pattern wheels 50 are assembled each with a sleeve 61 on the shaft 46, a key 70 engaging the keyways 68 and 69 locks the sleeves 61 against turning relatively to the shaft.

A washer is placed on the cylindrical bearing surface 60 of the sleeves 61 between the pattern wheels 50 to maintain the pattern wheel spacing The uppermost sleeve 61 as illustrated in FIG. 2 is surmounted by a sleeve embracing cap formed with a shaft accommodating bore 81 at the same inclination as the sleeve bores 67, and with a keyway slot 82 accommodating the key 70. The cap 80 extends upwardly beyond the extremity of the shaft 46 and is secured thereto by a clamp bolt 83 threaded into the shaft and passing through a washer 84 engaging the cap 80.

By loosening the clamp bolt 83, the shaft 46 with the assembled pattern wheels mounted on the sleeves 61 thereon may be shifted along the slots 43 and 45 in the section block to establish the requisite meshing relation between the pattern wheels with the needle butts in the needle cylinder 15 of the machine. The desired setting is then locked by tightening the clamp bolt 83.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, a needle raise cam is secured to the retaining ring 17 by screws 91 and serves, by engaging the lower butts 23 of the needles, to raise the needles bringing the butts 24, 24' or 24" into cooperative relation with the pattern wheels. The needles then pass the pattern wheels being influenced thereby, each needle in accordance with the jack arrangement of the particular pattern wheel with which it cooperates. Thereafter, the lower butts 23 of the needles engage a stitch cam 92, secured by a screw 93 and locating pins 94 to the section block 41, and are drawn downwardly thereby to incorporate into the fabric web the yarn introduced to the needles at that section block.

With the present invention it is possible therefore to arrange a plurality of pattern wheels on a common shaft at one knitting station on the circular knitting machine with the pattern wheels each meshing with the needles along a common line at the same parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder. With this arrangement, the total amount of available pattern information may be multiplied as compared with that available when using a single pattern wheel at each knitting station, without the necessity for materially increasing the height of the needle cylinder.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the arrangement of this invention may also be used to support a single pattern wheel on each section block. When a single pattern wheel is required, the cap 80 is arranged in engagement with a single bearing sleeve 61 on which the pattern wheel is journaled and preferably a shorter supporting shaft 46 is employed. The pattern wheel support provided by this invention is therefore fully compatible with existing circular knitting equipment.

Having thus set forth the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A pattern wheel support for a circular knitting machine having a needle cylinder journaled for turning movement relatively to a knitting machine frame, a pattern wheel supporting shaft, means for securing said pattern wheel supporting shaft on said knitting machine frame on an axis parallel to the axis of said needle cylinder, a plurality of bearing sleeves stacked on said pattern wheel supporting shaft, mean for securing said bearing sleeves axially and radially on said pattern wheel supportmg shaft, a cylindrical bearing seat for a pattern wheel formed on each bearing sleeve, said cylindrical bearing seats being disposed on parallel axes intersecting the axis of the shaft at an inclination, and separate pattern wheels journaled one on the cylindrical bearing seat of each of said bearing sleeves.

2. A pattern wheel support as set forth in claim 1 in which said cylindrical bearing seat on each of said bearing sleeves includes a cylindrical bearing surface accommodating a pattern wheel for rotation thereon and an annular thrust bearing flange sustaining the pattern wheel from movement axially of said annular bearing seat.

3. A pattern wheel support as set forth in claim 1 in which said stacked bearing sleeves are secured relatively to said spindle by a single key engaging a keyway lengthwise of said sleeve bores.

spindle and keyways in each of said bearing References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1930 Moloney 66-50 5 2/1936 Feineman 66-50 OTHER REFERENCES Koch et 211.: German printed application, 1,103,506, March 1961.

WM. CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner. 

